Ethos83

Hi Scamp,

One full day in Hanoi is enough (others will probably disagree) so I wouldn't sacrifice Hue for an extra day in Hanoi. As for the day trip to Ha Long bay, it will be a very long day with most of the time spent on the tour bus and visiting tourist trap gift shops. Be warned.

The Old Quarter in Hanoi is crazy. Worth seeing, I suppose.

Still, whatever you end up doing be sure to report back in full details.

scrubbedexpat141

Yeah, so, Vietnam is ****ing incredible.

Will give you all a better of why I think this once I get a few minutes.

scrubbedexpat141

Scamp in Vietnam.

Flew DXB - DOH, quick transfer and then 45min stop in Bangkok before landing in Ho Chi Minh.

Attacked, no less than this, by hoardes of 'taxi' offers. Had arranged hotel pick up (landed at 10:30pm so saved hassle at night). Bloke was late and then stalled 3 times whilst not having a clue where the hotel was. Awesome start.

First hotel was the Grand Silverland, lovely. first night, five min walk to roof terrace at Rex Hotel.

Saw the museums, the palace, the old buildings, the cathedral everything. HCM was an awesome city. Lively, noisy, bustling, juxtapositions at every turn of modern and old, commy and capitalist. Something like 6m motorbikes in the city which was amazing to see.

Never felt unsafe, walked around everywhere late at night, the Sheraton roof bar was mega and we went to a Vietnamese BBQ restaurant which was brilliant (cook yourself stuff). Whole city was really, really nice.


Overnight train to Nha Trang. Well. We didn't book train tickets (the Mrs was in charge of this) and could only get soft seats with A/C for the 7 hour journey. It was ****ing disgusting, noisy, uncomfortable, smelly and I'd never do it again.

Nha Trang was lush, we were in the Sheraton close to backpackers district, loads of cool bars and places to eat. Beach was beautiful, views were incredible. Long Son Pagoda spoilt by people trying to rob you / fleece you / think your thick. Giant Buddha was a giant Buddha.


Soft sleeper to Danang (for Hoi An) was million times better than soft seats, still filthy, smelling of other peoples sweat (who just got off the train) but more than tolerable.

Arrived in Danang to barter for a cheap cab to Hoi An, sorted. Sunrise Hotel on Cua Dai (?) beach, a 3 quid cab to centre of the Ancient Town. Amazing hotel, perfect.

Hoi An is without doubt, the most beautiful town I have ever been to. It's the only place in Vietnam where the local council / government seem to give a shit about their area. The shops were all similar but very quaint, selling decent shit.

I got a suit with two trousers and a shirt made in about 18 hours and it fits perfectly, for 85 quid. It puts Satwa to shame.

Then I got some shoes made, from a picture on google, in 24 hours (27quid). Fit perfectly, got them on now.

The lanterns and the restaurants and the bars and the stalls and shops and Japanese covered bridge and the pagoda's all make this the most gorgeous little town.

I will return armed with a spare suitcase and more spending money and the knowledge of what to expect for suit and shoe making services.


I cancelled our train tickets to Hanoi (18hours soft sleeper) and booked an extra night in Hoi An hotel and flight the following morning to Hanoi. Best decision ever.

Hanoi is and isn't similar to Ho Chi Minh. We went and saw everything again, Museum of Military history, Women's museum, HCM's Mausoleum, Palace, One Pillar Pagoda, Turtle Tower in the lake, everything.

Hanoi is awesome for the beer houses. 4 glasses of Czech-introduced micro-brewery stuff was less than 2 quid. I ****ing loved that. We did a day touring beer houses (it was part of my reward for being 'interested' in the Mueseum of Women).

City was buzzing, loads of local food places to try and all accessible by wandering. Never felt unsafe, ever.


Overall:

- Amazing country.
- Friendly people, spoilt by tourists being wary (I was)
- Big white man = walking, talking ATM
- Cheap shit, like suits, shoes, shirts, dresses for the mrs etc.
- Incredible scenery
- Some of the best food I've ever tasted. Cau Lau (I think) is mega.
- Gutted I missed Hue because of a lack of time, also a Typhoon stopped us from visiting Ha Long Bay. (Good excuses to return)
- Some of the worst poverty I have personally had to see (I'm aware there are worse places)
- Communism is kind of cool
- National pride is something to be respected. Flags everywhere, every country should be the same
- Americans are fools for trying to destroy such a beautiful country.
- Propaganda is not dead
- A couple of quid tip to some of the folk who were helpful was more gratefully received than I've ever seen anything.
- The war remnants museum was fascinating but, of course, heavily one sided. I wasn't aware of the chemical warfare the yanks used (Agent Orange) and the devastating effect it had.
- Cu Chi tunnels were amazing to see, but terrifying to go in. (I did for about 6 ft then bottled it).
- Vietnamese are extremely friendly people. As touched upon it is spoiled by tourists being told to be wary of scams left, right and centre.


You should all visit this place.


EDIT: Huge thanks to those who helped me, especially Typical, Ethos and MissAT. Appreciate it chaps.

britexpat76

All I want to know is, did you get a massage with a happy ending?

scrubbedexpat141

Only off the Mrs.

(yes, it was meant to be a massage for her too)

Miss Anne Thrope

Thanks for telling us about it - I actually like to hear about other peoples' trips. I want to go back there now...

scrubbedexpat141

I know it was all a bit brief, poorly written as a 'travel review' etc but don't want to be too boring.

I'll be going back next year without doubt. A week in Thailand or some other Asian country and a week to go to Hoi An again, to Hue (missed it out) and to Ha Long Bay.

Kix

Scamp, out of interest, how much did you spend in total, all in, flights included?

Cos I've just done AED30,000 on me and junior in Phuket for 2 weeks, and the hotels are 600Baht/night....

Meow

Are there direct flights from DXB to Hoi An? (Too lazy to check myself.)

scrubbedexpat141

Not that I know of, BUT, Emirates to Ho Chi Minh and then internal to Danang (30 min drive from Hoi An).

Probably only 30 quid for the internal flight if you book early enough.

scrubbedexpat141

Erm. Not sure, let me add up;
(all in pounds sterling for two of us)
750 flights
200 first hotel
300 second hotel
260 third hotel
150 fourth hotel
roughly 450 cash withdrawn by me
roughly 250 cash withdrawn by the mrs
300 room bills (probably generous)

= 2,660 sterling

Bear in mind the hotels we stayed in we booked two extra nights on top of what we planned (included above)

Trains; 120 quid probably, only ended up using two of the tickets, so add another 130 for the flights internally

= 2,910

Call it 3,000 pounds. That's about what I had in mind budget wise.

If you want to stay cheaper you can do it very easily, but bearing in mind 1,000 of that was travel I think 2,000 for hotels, food, cabs, drinking, suits, dresses, drinking, shoes, drinking, souvenir buying, museum fees etc is pretty good for two weeks.

scrubbedexpat141

Emirates + Vietnam Airlines
09:15 DXB–23:10 Da Nang
1 stop Saigon
Total time 10h 55

800 nicker return